The Latest On Rashan Gary

Michigan is widely believed to be one of the favorites—if not the favorite—to land the nation's top overall prospect, Paramus Catholic (NJ) DT Rashan Gary. Gary was expected to make a return trip to Ann Arbor this month, and while Sam Webb reports that trip has been delayed, Michigan is still making progress in Gary's recruitment—especially by connecting with his mom ($):

“I talked to Coach Harbaugh and he is a very personable entertaining guy,” Gary’s mother Jennifer Coney said.  “We talked for a long while and it wasn’t even about football.  It wasn’t about recruiting even though it was a recruiting call.  We didn’t need to talk much football because I can find out most of that stuff when I get over there. He talked about wanting to build the man, not just the football player.  He talked about academics.  He talked about his family.  He has six kids and he talked about trying to figure out how he was going to get his family moved over (to Ann Arbor).  He doesn’t whether they were going to fly or drive. That’s why he has work all of those hours… to take care of six kids! (Laughter).

“He is an entertaining guy.”

Gary and his mother are eyeing a late June visit, after Rashan gets out of school. He has three unofficial visits lined up for mid-June: Ole Miss, Auburn, and Alabama. Michigan looks to be in very good shape, but they'll have to fend off a long list of power programs.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

Searching For The Next Fleener/Ertz

While tight end is a major position of need in the 2016 class, Michigan hasn't made much headway with their top targets at the position outside of four-star PA TE Naseir Upshur, and he's by no means a lock. It should come as little surprise that the coaches have made the position a priority in their most recent wave of offers.

The Wolverine's Tim Sullivan reports Michigan offered New Orleans (LA) TE Peyton Aucoin, whose recruitment has picked up of late ($):

"I was really excited; that's a great football program," [Aucoin] continued. "[Drevno said] I fit their pro-style system, being a true tight end. I'm a guy that can block and also pose as a threat in the passing game. He talked about how the way I play fits their style."

Aucoin also added recent offers from Texas and NC State, and he told Sullivan he'd like to visit Michigan.

Michigan offered two other New Orleans area tight ends: four-star LSU commit Jamal Pettigrew and three-star Irvin Smith, per Steve Lorenz. (Smith's offer was confirmed after that post.)

The coaches also offered a class of 2017 tight end, Texas prospect Brian Polendey, according to the local Denton paper.

More New Offers

Offensive line appears to be another major priority among new offers in both the 2016 and 2017 classes.

Starting with the rising seniors, Michigan extended an offer to three-star 2016 TX OG Tope Imade, per Scout's Gabe Brooks ($). The Wolverines might be getting in just before a wave of big-time offers; Imade mentioned LSU, Oklahoma, and Texas may follow suit.

Three-star TX OT Kellen Deisch also added an offer, per The Wolverine's Brandon Brown, but he already has a top five of Arkansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas A&M—Michigan will have a tough time cracking that list.

On the other side of the ball, Michigan offered three-star FL WDE Brian Burns, who's added several big-time offers lately, though his recruitment seems to be focused on the SEC.

The 2017 class featured a lot of new offers in SEC country, including three going out to powerhouse Fort Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas rising juniors, plus another to 2018 DB Asante Samuel Jr. (yup, we're old) in the same program, per 247's Clint Brewster. The top receiver in the 2017 class, Trevon Grimes, was among the STA prospects to add a Michigan offer.

An offer to four-star 2017 GA WR Tyler Smith caught the young speedster off-guard, per TMI's Brice Marich ($):

“My coach told me and I was shocked,” Smith told The Michigan Insider. “I am very interested in Michigan, but I don’t know much. I wasn’t really in contact with Michigan before this offer, so this offer was a surprise. I want to take a visit up there.”

Smith boasts a small but distinguished group of early offers that includes in-state power Georgia. He has no top list at the moment.

Michigan also offered top-100 2017 GA OT Andrew Thomas, who told Marich he doesn't know a lot about the program and he's not sure if he'll visit Ann Arbor ($). Thomas is still in the early stages of figuring out his recruitment, though it sounds like he's a longshot regardless.

Michigan became the first program to offer 2017 AL S J'Marick Woods, who'll attend the satellite camp in Prattville, per 247's Steve Lorenz ($).

Two big-time offensive line prospects also added offers. Five-star 2017 CA OL Wyatt Davis picked one up yesterday, and he'd previously told Lorenz that he coveted a Michigan offer:

"I would love to go to Michigan," Davis told us on February 11th. "Especially with Coach Drevno there now. He's an excellent coach, and I had been in contact with him back when he was at USC. Michigan would be a big offer for me."

Alabama, Oklahoma, and UCLA are also significant contenders, and there'll certainly be even more competition as the process moves along.

Tim Sullivan reports an offer went out to four-star 2017 PA OT Robert Hainsey, who visited Michigan a couple years ago when being recruited by Brady Hoke.

Etc.

Three-star 2016 TX DE Rahssan Thornton has set an unofficial visit for early August, per Lorenz ($). Thornton is looking to learn what the program can offer him, including in his desired major of software engineering. Michigan is among the contenders, though a recent offer from LSU—Thornton is a New Orleans native—could make it much tougher to reel him in.

Michigan still looks to be in very good shape with three-star 2016 FL OLB Jonathan Jones, who told Tim Sullivan he plans to make a decision this summer after visiting his top five schools in June ($). Michigan is the only school among his top five—which also includes South Carolina, Duke, Oklahoma, and Pitt—with a visit already set, and Jones flat-out named the Wolverines his leader in February. He's one of the most likely candidates on the board to end up in the class, and now there's at least a rough timetable for that to happen.

Three-star 2016 OH CB Tony Butler took an unofficial to Michigan back in April despite being a Pitt commit, and while he mentioned the Pitt coaches weren't too pleased about that, he told Scout's Bill Greene he plans to visit Ann Arbor again, this time with his mom ($). While that's certainly promising, another contender has emerged: Ohio State, which hasn't offered yet but could vault to the forefront of his recruitment if they do.